


Red Iron Poppy

by WaltzQueen



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Vampires, Written in three hours, ann rice jokes, elliot is a merman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 09:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11803365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaltzQueen/pseuds/WaltzQueen
Summary: A vampire falls in love with a school teacher





	Red Iron Poppy

She waltzes into town like she owns the place, and technically she does. The entire little hamlet nestled between two fertile mountains is built on property she pried from an enemy nation's hands years ago. Not that anyone but her and her siblings remember that, but it's hers none the less.

The mayor asks her to introduce herself to everyone in town and that turns out to be far more difficult than expected. Or, rather, more difficult than HE expected. She knew exactly how difficult that could end up being.

She called herself Claudia, a joke between friends spun out of control after a silly little girl that wrote mediocre short stories grew up into a woman that wrote truly awful ones. She was no eternal child, forced into a life of darkness and incapability. Hers was a strength not dampened by the relative frailty of frame or lack of respect. She was full in her years when time had had enough of her and death had come. Her fullness spoke of her nobility. The well polished glassy eyes set wide into her face plainly belied the sharp cunning within. Or, they would if anyone could see them.

  
Out of the same rank boredom that bid her abandon her suite on top of the world to check out her territories she agrees to play the mayor's game. So far she has met the sour little grump named Shane. He stank like feathers and bird droppings. Sebastian, moody as any youth in any village she had ever seen, she spied upon from the safety of a fir as he smoked. Claudia twitches her ears and flaps her wings a bit to shuffle the smoke off to its destination. The clove reminds her of Catholic censers. Good riddance.

Claudia looks around for the local hermit, and there IS always one, for a few minutes before she spies him relieving himself on a bush from her airborne route. Perhaps another time, then. Claudia lands just out back of the trailer parked behind the mayor's house just in time to meet Pam. Just as there is always a hermit, there is always a drunkard. Claudia considers the woman's amiable nature as she walks inside and decides that she's met worse. Shane for one.

There is a blue haired barmaid, Emily. There is a fisher and a blacksmith, Willy and Clint. That she understands. She doesn't much understand what Demetrius is doing out so late peering into the water and jotting down notes. Some kind of prophet? Surely not the local witch, not in that shirt. Claudia hasn't exactly been in the loop on fashions since the s-curve corset went out of style, but she refuses to believe any witch, modern or not, would dress like that.

Despite her honest efforts, some meetings were not meant to be. The children and elders were all inside by dusk and not even the scent of them was around by nightfall, when Claudia could actually leave her cabin without the threat of the harsh sunlight stabbing her in the eyes. Most of the adults, parents doubly so, were early risers and quick to retire for the night. The wizard on her land left a velvet lined box filled with gold trinkets and expensive silks as well as a very nicely worded letter explaining his business on her property and that, while he would be respectful, he would appreciate their maintained distance. Wise man.

The most interesting thing so far is Claudia could smell a werewolf and a Mer about the village. She had yet to see them in person but the way the smell of fresh fish and wet dog entangled could only mean they were boarding together at the very least. A quick midnight trip out to the beach proves very strongly (and loudly, wow)that there was more than simple room sharing. Good for them. She had heard that one wrote tales and the other grew hothouse flowers. Not exactly cable TV but it would be worth watching. Her siblings, Louis especially, loved tales of odd couplings like this.

So it goes for a while, carving gems out of the earth in the darkness of the mines only to emerge when the sun had set and the night birds had begun to stir. She builds a barn on her little Red Iron Farm and buys a lot of cows. No one will complain about livestock being bitten if she's the owner. The little valley was alright but nothing too special. Still, she supposed it was good to get away every once in a while. Louis and Adedayo were currently crashing in her city estate in the Empire proper. They had come back with tales from traveling and she was eager to bring some of her own to the table, but aside from the odd couple living on the beach nothing much was catching her interest, and so she makes plans to leave by the end of the year. Then comes Spirit's Eve Night.

The colorful leaves crunch and crackle as they scatter across the stones of the town square. They crunch more loudly than usual under her feet, as though invigorated by the energy of the festivities. The wizard, one Rasmodius, stiffens and sweats as she enters the square. Her red eyes look at him very deliberately and then slide away from him. He relaxes somewhat and continues his affairs.

Claudia spots the Mer and Wolf near the entrance of the hedge-maze. The wolf, broad shouldered and dark skinned, comes barrelling out of the leafy confines of the puzzle with a golden pumpkin held above their head. He looks just like a dog presenting a fresh kill to his master, fittingly enough. The mer, blonde and blue eyed, hugs their husband to their side. Claudia subtly takes a picture with her phone. Louis is going to absolutely go nuts. They nuzzle for a minute, ignoring the laughing of the Sebastian, Sam, and Abigail and the copious amount of long grey hair the taller of the two is shedding into their amused spouse.Cute.

There is something of a commotion coming from the entrance to the maze. Claudia looks on with half lidded eyes as a gaggle of people are lead out by the old warrior Marlon. A spectacled youth in over-alls and a dark haired girl breathe deep with relief as they spot the exit and run for it. There's Harvey who she's seen but scarcely talked to. And then Claudia sees Her.

She's holding her head as the doctor pulls her along gently by the shoulder. Her hair is tied into a neat bun at the back and her shirt is the color of sunshine. She pulls her hand away from her face as Harvey murmurs something Claudia can't catch over the clamor of the children. She smiles at the doctor, sweet even through the veil of pain and Claudia... Well, it's a good thing Claudia's heart is already well and stopped or else she might have just collapsed. Claudia has visions of her with rings on her fingers and jewels in her hair and Wants.

  
Penny.  
Her name is Penny and Claudia is not proud to say that she stalks her. So she doesn't. She says she observes and gathers information. Late at night she peers into the window of the flimsy little trailer and watches as Penny smiles at some stupid looking fish in a book or decorates the ceiling of her room with little handmade poppies. The Were comes to visit her occasionally, bearing a fishy soup and a smile when winter has shortened the days enough for Claudia to be out and observing. On one such night the Were looks at her watching from the other side of the river. His superfluous winter jacket hangs from his waist as he stares across the water, arms laden with lidded bowls of food. When he comes back out they have a little soap on their hands and one less bowl. When he looks and sees Claudia still outside he shuffles in place nervously a moment.

"Hey, uh, Claudia?" His voice is gentle despite being so deep. It is not overly surprising. Most Weres were gentle giants and the people in this valley were gentler than most besides. She decides to give him a response when nothing else is said.

"Yes."

"About Penny..." He pauses a moment, nails growing into claws that make sharp noises against the ceramic bowls. "She likes Poppies. I could give you a discount, depending on how many you need." Claudia smiles and he smiles back, nerves gone as their fangs both gleam in the darkness.

 

Penny starts receiving Poppies in the mail once a week and twice a week in person when the sun allows. It takes a season before Claudia mails her siblings for a pair of sunglasses strong enough to spare her eyes the pain of the sun. Once she receives them, there is little to keep her away from Penny. When Penny despairs over her mother's behavior due to her lost job, Claudia quietly dumps forty-five thousand gold into the town's vault and single-highhandedly reinstates the line to Calico Desert. Claudia gratefully eats what Penny makes, unable to taste how awful it is. She'll just have to remove it from her stomach later, anyway. Curled up on the couch in a dinky little trailer clouded by the smell of poppies, Claudia closes her eyes and smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> the werewolf married to elliot is my farmer, he's moved in with Elliot since claudia needs to be on the farm proper to be the main character

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Wolves of Wolf Den Farm](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12093288) by [DragonbornLives2665](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonbornLives2665/pseuds/DragonbornLives2665)




End file.
